Strengthening joints in the fingers.

Alright guys, I've been working on my grip strength for application purposes (making startling progress btw, noob gains FTW), and I started looking into various other striking surfaces than the main ones on the fists and open hand, such as the tip of and the second knuckle of the thumb like in Uechi-ryu. Being young and full of vinegar, I've been happily bashing said surfaces into things harder than them and hoping for the best. I've developed a little callus on some of the surfaces, but I've noticed that I still have a lot of play in the joints. Since those are likely going to be the first part to fail, any ideas as to how I could strengthen them? I'm sure strengthening the muscles in the forearms would play a large part, since they control grip, but there seems to be a disproportionate amount of weakness. I've started fingertip pushups, and I understand time + effort is a strong factor. What do you guys think?

Look after your joints. I take Cod liver oil and regulary eat oily fish like mackerel or herring. I plan on training well past 70 (another 25 years). I also use an ointment called Pernaton when I feel wear & tear.

An good example of a more Okinawan approach is Higaonna Sensei (Gojo Ryu). He was 54 years in this film. He has grip like a vice.

(1) A friend who was a motorcycle racer had this tip for me. He used it to strengthen his forearms and hence his grip for long races.

You use a stick (end of a broom handle), a strong cord & a light weight. The ends of the cord are tied to the stick and to the weight. You hold the stick in your hands, arms stretched out and you rotate the stick in your hands, winding the cord onto the stick and hence the weight rises. At a height pre-defined by you, you then unwind, slowly, until the weight settles back on the ground. You repeat this. I found a light weight with was enough with a small number of repetitions.
(2) Alternatively you can do this with a baseball bat and holding it horizontal.

(3) A heavy cloth (denim), soaked in water. Wring the water out, soak and repeat.

(4) A sheepskin pillow/sack filled with sawdust or dry sand. Grab the wool and lift off the ground, hold and replace. Remember to bend your knees and watch your back. One of my students is a shepherdess and she has the strongest grip in the club.

Too many repetitions at any given time may result in tendonitis. These are only suggestions and folks do them at their own risk :)

Nutritionally, in addition to cod liver oil as mentioned, there is probably a benefit of glucosamine; it has been showed to to stop or decellerate degeneration of cartiiage. If you are very young it probably has no effect but if you have been hammering fistes into rocks for many years it will certainly be a good idea to try it out. On the other hand, for some people, the health of the digestive system may be the most important thing of all for the joints, because substances from unhealthy guts for some reason have a tendency to end up near joints and damage them.

Very importantly, to have healthy mobility of the joint is necessary to maintain the integrity of the joint. Active mobility exercises, especially as warm ups are very good. Check out Steve Maxwells "joint mobility program" (www. maxwellsc.com , downloads) or Scott Sonnons "intu-flow" system. Brilliant principles, no matter if we are talking hips or thumbs.

All tissues in the body adapt and can be strengtened by exercise, this goes for muscles nerves, fascia, cartilage and bone. But if structures are loaded/ stressed to quickly / too much they will be worn out /damaged in stead of strengtened. Personally I would be careful hammering fists into too hard stuff; at least rule nr 1 would always be p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e if you do this, dont go about it to hard or to quick.

The strength of the joint is also dependent of the strength of the muscles stabilising it, the quality of the proprioceptive feedback from the joint and the neuromuscular coordination related to the joint (therefore it can also be stated that exercises including balance/proprioception/coordination also are strengtening to the joint). These qualities will, of course, also have effect on how hard you can strike. Interestingly, research has shown that the palm , even in very experienced karateka, can create a harder shock than the fist; this is thought to be because even in the very experienced martial artist, there will be some movement in the wrist upon impact and therefores som loss of the effect on impact.

To clarify, I did exaggerate a bit as to how hard I was hitting because I found it a humorous mental image. I'm "tapping", as my sensei calls it. Thanks to all for being concerned about my health!

LC Stig wrote:

Very importantly, to have healthy mobility of the joint is necessary to maintain the integrity of the joint. Active mobility exercises, especially as warm ups are very good. Check out Steve Maxwells "joint mobility program" (www. maxwellsc.com , downloads) or Scott Sonnons "intu-flow" system. Brilliant principles, no matter if we are talking hips or thumbs.

I will certainly look for those. It may shed light on some questions I have about unrelated joints. Thanks!

LC Stig wrote:

All tissues in the body adapt and can be strengtened by exercise, this goes for muscles nerves, fascia, cartilage and bone. But if structures are loaded/ stressed to quickly / too much they will be worn out /damaged in stead of strengtened. Personally I would be careful hammering fists into too hard stuff; at least rule nr 1 would always be p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e if you do this, dont go about it to hard or to quick.

Sound advice. I'm not really trying to do this quickly; moreso that I'm trying to find a more streamlined approach to it.

LC Stig wrote:

The strength of the joint is also dependent of the strength of the muscles stabilising it, the quality of the proprioceptive feedback from the joint and the neuromuscular coordination related to the joint (therefore it can also be stated that exercises including balance/proprioception/coordination also are strengtening to the joint). These qualities will, of course, also have effect on how hard you can strike.

That's answers my question! Thank you so much! I will start researching this more in depth immediately!